WMS: THE LAST Math/Science Update! :)

Dear Families,

Thank you all so much for a fantastic year! I feel so privileged to have worked with your children. We had fun, we learned a lot, and it all happened SO FAST! 

I wish you all a wonderful summer break and the BEST OF LUCK to my students as they enter 7th grade next year! 

Warm regards,

Brian MacNevin

BoxPlot Quiz sent home today... Grand Canyon studied in science...

Dear Families,

Just a mid-week check in to let you know what's what and what's what.

Math

Yesterday students took a quiz on box plots (also called box and whisker plots).

I am experimenting with using a different way of assessing and I want to explain to you about the quiz and its "percentages" because these percentages don't work the same way that percentages worked for most of us in school for establishing "grades".

The quiz contained 10 questions.

• Six of those questions were basic to solid "level 3" questions. That means I anticipated anyone who had mastered the at-grade level understanding should get these completely right and to build in some "wiggle room" I decided that with these first 5 (50%) or 6 (60%) correct, a student could demonstrate to me that they are at-standard (level 3).
• This is important to understand. 50% or 60% means that the student demonstrated grade-level understanding to me 5 or 6 times. I feel this provides me enough evidence to determine that someone is at-grade level. 
• Two harder questions were still grade-level, but required a more thorough understanding of the grade-level ideas. If students demonstrated the equivalent of ALL level 3 and at least one of these questions, I marked their quiz as Level 3.5 (70% or 80%).
  
• Two questions, in my opinion, extended beyond what I would expect students to be able to answer after learning this material. If students demonstrated the equivalent of ALL of level 3 and ALL of level 3.5 and at least one of these questions, I scored them as a Level 4 (90% or 100%). 

Today in class students began a reflection letter that they are going to share with you this evening. They need to have that letter signed and I will check that in tomorrow for homework.

I will also offer a make up quiz tomorrow for anyone below a 3 so that they can improve their score. To prepare for that, students should revise their quiz from yesterday.

Science

In science we have been watching a video called "How the earth was made" [link] I asked students to simply watch and we talked about what was shared throughout the video to help students build an image of how the grand canyon was formed. A super simplified outline:

• 1.7 trillion years ago, successive layers of sediment were laid down on a crustal plate by successive rising and lowering ocean levels.
• The crustal plate was lifted up, forming a mountain range similar to that of the Himalayas.
• The mountain range was weathered/eroded down into a more-or-less flat plateau and the Colorado river fed into a gigantic lake that was located on top of it.
• About 5.5 million years ago the lake over-flowed and spilled westward over the edge of the plateau. At the edge of the plateau it formed a huge waterfall that soon eroded a canyon backwards to the lake bed.
• The Colorado then could flow into the canyon the way we now recognize it... more or less.
  
• More recent volcanic eruptions (within the last few hundred thousand years or so) spilled lava into the canyon, forming rock dams that created lakes behind them until the lake's pressure tore them down and eroded them away.

Tomorrow we will be doing a sequencing activity to try and match up these major events with the evidence that was presented on the video.

I hope you have a great evening!

Warm regards,

Brian MacNevin

Math Update: BoxPlots!

Dear Families,

I just wanted to let you know what we are up to right now in math and science. 

Math:

• We learned about a data representation in science called a BoxPlot (used for describing a set of data and for comparing two data sets). This week in math we are practicing it to get ready to show independence with a quiz on Wednesday.
• Students will need to know (and are practicing):
• Finding the range of the data.
• Finding the minimum, the maximum, the median, the first quartile and the third quartile of the data.
• Plotting this information on a graph called a box plot.
• Making statements of comparison between groups of data based on the range, the interquartile range, and the median.
• Tonight's homework is here: [link]
  Answers to tonight's homework are here: [link]

Science:

• We are currently examining rocks from cliffs that are about 35 miles apart from each other in the Grand Canyon so we can see if there are any similarities between them. Spoiler: yes there are! :)
• We are wrapping up our observations of the rocks today and tomorrow. Then we will be comparing the two canyons together with rock-type correlation as evidence for how the Grand Canyon was formed.

Warm Regards,

Brian MacNevin

Online Testing Samples...

Dear Families,

This week our students have been taking their MSP tests. ON Thursday our BLUE group will take their math MSP and on Friday our RED group will be taking theirs. Today we visited the computer lab so that students could try out all the tools and complete a scavenger hunt of where they were located on the screen. They also got to try out many question types. 

If you are curious about it and would like to see what your children are looking at for the online tests, you can visit OSPI's page that has sample tests available: [link] They're located on the right hand side of the page.

Warm regards,

Brian MacNevin

One-Step Equations!

Dear Families,

Today I introduced a new skill: solving one-step equations to find the value of a variable. We imagined a pan balance with some mass on each side and I explained how we need to keep the pan balanced in order for the equation to remain true. So long as we do that, we can do whatever we want to get the variable all on its own.

For example:

5 + x = 8

I can subtract 5 from each side:

5 + x = 8

-5       -5

and that leaves

      x = 3

We practiced using subtraction, addition, multiplication, and division today to isolate the variable on one side and its value on the other.

Here is a video that shows that same process that we practiced today and that we're practicing in homework: [link]

Warm regards,

Brian

WMS: Math/Science Update. MSP Testing this coming week!

Dear Families,

We not only survived the field trips to the Gordon Carter site, but we had a GREAT time! Thank you so much to all of our volunteers and chaperones. And thank you to everyone for making sure your children were dressed appropriately, had lunches, and had a great attitude! We had a GREAT time out there learning about ecosystems in a way that cannot be replicated in a classroom.

One of the questions I was asked was about the lesson about Phosphorous run-off into the water shed. The graduate teaching assistants and the university professor felt the lesson needed to be revised for clarity. After observing it twice this year (and three times last year), I thought I'd have some good suggestions about simplifying the lesson, or about focussing it. Instead, every suggestion I made took too much out of the lesson. These creeks and watersheds are complex systems that we can't recreate in a classroom. And trying to reduce it down to just one particular aspect of perspective doesn't help kids understand the complexity of the system. I think I found myself favouring the complexity because here -- in the outdoors -- the students get to see and grapple with that complexity. These outdoor education experiences are so very important for helping kids put the small pieces together into something that is the BIG picture staring them in the face. 

This Week in Math:

• We will be extending our study of equations and expressions into solving one-step equations. That means if we have an equation like 4 + x = 12, students understand that they can "solve for x" by doing the same thing to each side of the equation: i.e. they can subtract 4 from each side, leaving x=8 as the solution. I will be using an analogy of a single-arm-balance as we learn the strategy, then we will have a few practice sessions.

This Week in Science:

• We will finish looking at Forces and Motion and will start looking at the grand canyon as a model for understanding sedimentary rocks and layer deposition. The big picture understanding here is to get a sense of scale of geologic time and to see some of the evidence for it. We will be investigating this through the rest of the year.

MSP TESTING THIS WEEK:

It's that time of year. We don't really do any specific test prep here at 6th grade at WMS. But we do want students to have plenty of SLEEP at nights, and good NUTRITION. Also, any day a student is testing, they are treated to FREE BREAKFAST in the lunch room! 

Warm regards,

Brian MacNevin 

WE DID IT! YOU DID IT! We're covered!

Dear Families,

I KNEW WE WOULD DO IT! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! We now have enough seats to get our students to the site and back again. 

Here are our awesome volunteers:

THURSDAY AM:
Julie Smith (4)
Christine Lee (4)
Tom McNutt (6)
Christian Carson (4)
Isaac Blum (4)
Matthew Prendergast (4)
Molly Daniels (6)

THURSDAY PM:
Julie Smith (4)
Christine Lee (4)
Tom McNutt (6)
Christian Carson (4)
Isaac Blum (4)
Matthew Prendergast (4)

FRIDAY AM:

Christine Lee (4)
Tom McNutt (6)
Christian Carson (4)
Paula MacKenzie (4)
Michelle Willett (4)
Daniel VanderBrink (6)
Travis Krause (6)

FRIDAY PM:

Christine Lee (4)
Christian Carson (4)
Paula MacKenzie (4)
Michelle Willette (4)
Daniel VanderBrink (6)
Tom McNutt (6)
Travis Krause (6)

Thank you all for your support!

NOTE: PLEASE REMEMBER THAT STUDENTS AND CHAPERONES NEED TO HAVE LONG PANTS AND CLOSED-TOED SHOES ON.

SINCERELY,

BRIAN MACNEVIN

Field Trip is in danger... we still need more drivers.

Dear Families,

Unfortunately, I need to let you know that our field trip is in danger right now. We just don't have enough drivers to transport all of our students to the Gordon Carter site. 

If you can help transport any of these students, please email me ASAP (or use the Google Form [link] to let me know; you don't need to stay all day!

THURSDAY MORNING WE NEED:

2 or 3 drivers to transport 9 students.

THURSDAY AFTERNOON WE NEED:

2 or 3 drivers to transport 9 students.

FRIDAY MORNING WE NEED:

1 driver to transport 3 students.

FRIDAY AFTERNOON WE NEED:

1 driver to transport 3 students.

Thank you to all of the volunteers who have carved out time and resources to be able to make our field trip happen! So far, these folks I know I have heard from definitely to help out:

THURSDAY DRIVERS AND CHAPERONES:

Julie Smith (4)

Christine Lee (4)

Tom McNutt (6)

Christian Carson (4)

Isaac Blum (4)

FRIDAY DRIVERS AND CHAPERONES:

Christine Lee (4)

Tom McNutt (6)

Christian Carson (4)

Paula MacKenzie (4)

Michelle Willett (4)

Daniel VanderBrink (6)

I really think we can do this. We are SO VERY CLOSE. If you can join us, all the necessary paperwork will be waiting for you in the office in the morning. There is a volunteer driver form and a volunteer packet to complete. And that's it! Then come on down to Room 116.

Sincerely,

Brian MacNevin

Field Trip: Excited for Thursday, but drivers are still needed!

Dear Families,

Your child's class will be going on the Gordon Carter field trip on Thursday and Friday of this week! It's almost time! The other class had a wonderful time there today and tomorrow looks like it will be just as good!

But before we can go... we still need some more drivers to get all of our students there! I know we can do it!

Here are some opportunities for you to help out and volunteer!

Chaperones:

We have lots of chaperones. But if you can drive some students to the site, stay the day, and drive them back to school again at the end, we could use one more chaperone on Thursday. 

Drivers:

• Thursday AM: We still need to transport 9 students to the site (probably 2-3 more drivers).
• Thursday PM: we still need to transport 13 students back to WMS (probably 3-5 more drivers).
• Friday AM: We still need to transport 3 more students to the site (probably 1 more driver).
• Friday PM: We still need to transport 3 more students back to WMS (probably 1 more driver).

How to volunteer:

If you can help, please email me (brian.macnevin@bellinghamschools.org) or use the online volunteer form located here: [SIGN-UP].

Thank you so much!

Brian MacNevin

Today's Field Trip: What an AWESOME day! Tomorrow: Drivers/Chaperone information included

Dear Families,

What a great day it was! Even though it wasn't a sunny day, it also wasn't a cold one. We had a blast exploring nature from both a sensory as well from a scientific perspective. Tomorrow will run much as it did today.

Chaperones:
Sonny Kunchick
Alison Rositzke
Jennie Eshuis
Tom Russell

AM Drivers:
Sonny Kunchick (6)
John Bower (6)
Teresa Bosteter (6)
Alison Rositzke (3)
Jennie Eshuis (4)
Bill Dierdorff (6)
Tom Russell (6)

(37/33)

PM Drivers:
Todd Saari Sr. (6)
Sonny Kunchick (6)
Susie Bower (5)
Alison Rositzke (3)
Jennie Eshuis (4)
Bill Dierdorff (6)
Tom Russell (6)

(34/33)

Chaperone Information:

The instructors have put together a letter for you about the job of a chaperone on-site [link]. I will have a copy for you in the morning, but I thought some may want to have a look at it ahead of time.

Driver Paperwork:

• If you drove today, you have no more paperwork to turn in. Yay! And if you are joining us tomorrow for the first time, please bring your paperwork (volunteer packet [link] and driving approval form [link]) to Aileen Walton in the office in the morning. Then come on down to room 116.
• If you are only driving for us in the afternoon, please send your signed paperwork with your child in the morning and I'll get it checked in for you.
  
• There are directions available for you to download here [link].

Thank you so much!

Brian

Calling all drivers... we still need more cars to transport kids to the GC site on Thursday and Friday

Dear Families of my "blue group",

Our class is so excited about the Gordon Carter field trip Thursday 5/16 and Friday 5/17!

But we still need more drivers. We are close to the number of drivers we need (in fact, we have plenty of chaperones who are there the whole day). But drivers are still really needed. 

I know that it is difficult to find the time in the day to help out, but please check your schedules and see if you might be able to help drive some students for just part of the day. Right now we need drivers for the following times:

• Thursday 9:30-10:15AM: We still need 3-4 drivers (to transport 13 students).
  
• Thursday 3:00- 3:45 PM: We still need 3-4 drivers (to transport 13 students).
  
• Friday  9:30-10:15 AM: We still need 1-2 drivers (to transport 3 students).
  
• Friday 3:00- 3:45 PM: We still need 1-2 drivers (to transport 3 students). 
  

If you can volunteer to drive, please reply to this email or sign up using the Google Form here: [SIGN-UP]

Thank you so much for your help! This will be a GREAT trip!

Brian

Field Trip: Still need 1 AM driver and probably 3-4 PM drivers for Monday...

Dear Families,

I sent home a paper notice today with your child's class. We are still in real need of drivers for Monday. 

One more driver in the morning would get us all there. But in the afternoon we still need to transport 13 students back home. I think that means we still need between 3 and 4 drivers.

If you are available for transporting students, please let me know as soon as possible.

There is a little paperwork to complete (a volunteer form with Mrs. Walton in the office and a driver permission form available here [link], though you could also get that from Mrs. Walton on Monday Morning). 

Thank you so much!

Brian MacNevin

Field Trip Volunteers: Thank you! and information!

Dear Volunteers,

Thank you for volunteering to help out on our field trips next week! I have compiled all of the responses so you can see where I have you scheduled to help out. Please let me know if there need to be any changes. [link]

Paperwork

Today I sent home some paperwork for you with your child. You should find these two things:

• Volunteer Information Packet:
  The volunteer information packet is mostly information for you to read, but there are two pages in there that Mrs. Walton will need to keep on-file. The good news is, those files are good for a year! If you already have one on-file, you won't need to fill it out again.
• Driver Permission Form:
  This pink page is the building principal's approval of the plans for transportation and also verifies your insurance information for the district.

If your paperwork has gone missing, or if you are a new volunteer, please see Mrs. Walton in the main office on Monday morning and she can give you the paperwork that you will need to complete.

Afternoon-Only Drivers:

If you are driving only in the afternoon on Monday, please send this form with your child in the morning. This is very important. The forms must be here on-site for the students to be in your car during school hours on the field trip. 

Monday Morning:

On Monday morning, please stop in to see Mrs. Walton in the main office. You can drop off those forms with her at that time. Then you can come down to room 116 and I will have kids assigned to you ready for our adventure!

Directions:

The Gordon Carter site's address is: 3801 South Bay Drive. Sedro-Woolley, WA [Google Maps Link]. But since Google Maps seems to make it a little hard to know exactly what the turn looks like or where it is, I also have a jpg drawing of a map for you here: [picture of map].

Thank you so much!

Sincerely,

Brian MacNevin

Field Trip Update: Still need some drivers for Monday.

Dear Families,

Thank you so much for volunteers! We are almost there! As of today, we have Tuesday totally covered for drivers. Yay!

On Monday, however, we need a few more.

Monday morning: we still need one more drivers in the morning to get all the students there (right now we have 1 student without transportation, so another volunteer would do it).

Monday afternoon: we still need enough drivers to bring 13 students back to WMS. 

If anyone can donate a portion of their day to drive, that would be really helpful! It only takes about 45 minutes to get out the the Gordon Carter site.

You can email me (brian.macnevin@bellinghamschools.org) or use the Google sign up sheet I have online [link].

Thanks so much!

Brian

Elective Survey Tomorrow

Dear Families,

Just a reminder that tomorrow our students are registering their preferences for next year's electives. Earlier this week they brought home an information update check and an elective registration sheet for you.

Tomorrow each student should have those forms with them.

Warm regards,

Brian MacNevin

Calling all drivers: we need some more for next week.

Dear Families,

Your child's class will be going on our field trip next Monday (5/13) and Tuesday (5/14) of next week. But we still don't have enough drivers. Here is where we're at so far.

Monday:

M.R. (4) AM and PM

A.R. (4) AM and PM

T.S. (6) AM and PM

J.H. (6) AM and PM

We still need transportation for 13 students.

Tuesday:

M.R. (4)

S.K. (6)

We still need transportation for 23 students.

I know that it is difficult to take days off, or even parts of days. But if you are available for a day -- or even for just part of a day -- to drive students, we could definitely use your help.

We will leave WMS at 9:30 (arriving at the site at about 10:15) and will leave the GC site at 3:00 (arriving at WMS at about 3:45). 

If you can volunteer to help, please let me know either through email or through the form I had set up [link].

Thank you so much! If we can do it, this will be a great field trip! :) 

Warm regards,

Brian 

Math Quiz Tomorrow! Still room for more field trip volunteers!

Dear Families,

Just an update about where we are right now. I hope you are well and that you got to enjoy the wonderful weather of these past few days!

Math

Tomorrow we will have a quiz on evaluating and writing exponents (Common Core State Standard 6.EE.1). At the beginning of the week I have students a small pre-assessment on writing and evaluating exponents and this week we have been practicing them.

Tonight for homework students have 10 practice problems and should review their work from this week to prepare for the quiz tomorrow.

Science

In science we have been trying to understand and graph the differences between force and speed to compare our fan cars and our mousetrap cars. This week I am also  introducing students to a kid-friendly version of Newton's three laws of motion.

1. An object will keep moving the way it's moving (or not moving) unless an unbalanced force changes its movement.
2. Everyone knows that heavier objects require more force to move the same distance as lighter objects.
   
3. Whenever one object pushes on another object, it's gets pushed back in the opposite direction but equally hard.
   

Field Trip Update

Our field trips are approaching fast! We still have room and need of chaperones and volunteer drivers. If you would like to volunteer, please email me or use these surveys:

Red Group Parents can volunteer here: [link]

Blue Group Parents can volunteer here: [link]

Warm regards,

Brian MacNevin

Ratio Quiz tomorrow...

Dear Families,

This Week in Math

• We have been working on these learning targets:
  6.RP.1: I can compare subgroups to each other or to a whole group using ratios.
  6.RP.2: I can calculate a unit rate and use it to solve ratio problems.
  6.RP.3: I can use a model to solve real world ratio problems.
• Today in class students took a practice quiz. The answers are stored on DropBox for you to see if you need them. [link]
• Tonight I have asked students to review their practice quiz from today and any of our classwork and homework over the last week and a half to practice for the quiz tomorrow.
  
• Tomorrow we are having a quiz on the second two learning targets. (We took a small one last week on the first learning target). 
  

Right now in Science

• When we learned about the fan cars, we defined average speed as the change in position divided by the change in time. 
  
• Now we are working on describing the motion of mousetrap cars so that we can compare them to the motion of our fan cars.

Field Trip Volunteers

We still need more volunteers to chaperone and drive for our upcoming field trips!

Red Group Parents can volunteer here: [link]

Blue Group Parents can volunteer here: [link]

Warm Regards,

Brian

"Blue Group" Field Trip: CALLING ALL DRIVERS!

Dear Families,

We are excited about our upcoming field trip to the Gordon Carter Environmental Site.

Many of you may know this as the Pioneer Site in 3rd grade. We will be teaming with Huxley College of the Environment (WWU) for two days of fun-filled outdoor, science and environmental education.

Field trip dates for your child are:

Thursday May 16 09:30- 03:45 and...

Friday, May 17 09:30- 03:45

I will send more details in the coming weeks.

This will be an all day trip: we will leave WMS around 9:30 and expect a 45-minute drive. We will leave at about 3:00 and arrive at WMS at about 3:45.

This email is a call for chaperones and drivers!

There are two vital jobs we need parent help with:

1. Chaperones volunteer to drive students there and then stay the entire day, supporting the hikes and activities.
   
2. Drivers volunteer simply to drive students to and from the site. 

If you would like to be part of this tremendous trip, please respond in this short survey:

VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP

Let me know if you have any questions.

Brian MacNevin

Math/Science Teacher

Whatcom MS

"Red Group" Field Trip: CALLING ALL DRIVERS!

Dear Families,

We are excited about our upcoming field trip to the Gordon Carter Environmental Site.

Many of you may know this as the Pioneer Site in 3rd grade. We will be teaming with Huxley College of the Environment (WWU) for two days of fun-filled outdoor, science and environmental education.

Field trip dates for your child are:

Monday May 13 09:30- 03:45 and...

Tuesday, May 14 09:30- 03:45

I will send more details in the coming weeks.

This will be an all day trip: we will leave WMS around 9:30 and expect a 45-minute drive. We will leave at about 3:00 and arrive at WMS at about 3:45.

This email is a call for chaperones and drivers!

There are two vital jobs we need parent help with:

1. Chaperones volunteer to drive students there and then stay the entire day, supporting the hikes and activities.
   
2. Drivers volunteer simply to drive students to and from the site. 

If you would like to be part of this tremendous trip, please respond in this short survey:

VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP

Let me know if you have any questions.

Brian MacNevin

Math/Science Teacher

Whatcom MS

Science Update: Rube Goldberg machines!

Dear Families,

I just wanted to let you know that today in science we spent some time trying to apply our understandings of energy, motion, and forces. We watched part of a video from a German artist called "The Way Things Go" (Der Lauf der Dinge). You can watch it here: [link]. And we watched a video that is supposed to be a continuous-shot Rube Goldberg contraption in the OK GO music video "This Too Shall Pass" [link].

I asked students to try and notice two things:

1. Where is friction being used to an advantage (so it's not just something that gets in the way).
2. Every time something starts to move, it has received some energy ("motion" or kinetic energy). So I asked students to think about where the energy came from.

It was a fun way to think about energy and forces and might be interesting to talk about with your child to try and extend what they are seeing in the classroom out of the classroom.

Afterwards, students shared with me about a Red Bull commercial that I'd never seen [link]. And that reminded me of a Honda commercial they'd never seen [link]. Then I found this one that is done in Minecraft [link]!

So now it's emailed, blogged, shared, and we can all watch Rube Goldberg-like machines all night! :)

Warm Regards,

Brian MacNevin

Progress Reports sent home today... science is being updated this week.

Dear Families,

Our progress reports are going home today and I wanted to let you know that the science progress report is not yet up to date. I have hardcopy information that I had forgotten to move into the gradebook system and I will update that this week, then send home a science progress report on Friday or Monday.

There have also already been updates to the math gradebook and you can see those online now.

I'm sorry for the confusion this may add to an already large set of printed pages, but I want to get you better information than what you are getting today.

Thanks so much for all you do for your child!

Sincerely,

Brian MacNevin

Math and Science Update...

Dear Families,

Well, our first week back is almost done and I wanted to update you about what we have been up to.

MATH

On Monday we started investigating ratios. Students learned that ratios are just comparisons of things. There are two kinds of ratios that we see commonly in 6th grade:

1. Comparing parts of groups to the whole group.
   Students know these more commonly as fractions. For example, if I have a group of seven marbles and three of them are red, but four of them are blue, the ratio of red marbles to the total number of marbles is 3:7 (pronounced "three to seven"). This can also be expressed as the fraction 3/7.
2. Comparing parts of groups to the other parts of the group.
   This was the new way of thinking about it. If I have the same set of seven marbles (three red and four blue), then I can compare the red marbles to the blue marbles using a ratio. The ratio of red to blue marbles is 3:4, and the ratio of blue marbles to red marbles is 4:3. Notice, the order of the parts is important. 

• You might be thinking to yourself, "so... if a ratio is a part:whole ratio, it's clear why it's a fraction. But why can we use fractions for part:part ratios? Sure, the ratio of red:blue is 3:4... but why can it also be 3/4 when there are more than four marbles?"
  
  
• Well, that comes down to the comparison of one part to another part. If we ask "what fraction of the number of blue marbles is the number of red marbles?" then we are comparing the number of red marbles to the number of blue ones. Since there are four blue marbles and only three red ones, we can say that the red marbles are 3/4 of the number of blue marbles. So the use of a fraction there works just fine as long as we remember that we are describing the size of one part of the collection relative to the other part of the collection.
  

SCIENCE

• Just before break we began investigating these fan cars as a way of looking at forces, motion and energy. The big question we are asking is "what causes what?" Does energy cause motion? Or does force cause motion? Or does motion cause force?
  
• This week we have been learning to use two tools to help us investigate this:
• Force Diagrams: These simple diagrams represent forces acting on an object as an arrow. If two forces are acting on the same object, we draw the greater force with a longer arrow. 
• Average Speed: This one was fun. Through a reading, students were introduced to the idea that speed is the change in position over a change in time. When I then asked a student to come up and change my position, in both classes someone turned me sideways! *laughing* They were reading the word position as pose. But for scientists, position means location. So we described that instead as the change in position divided by the change in time and we recorded the formula like this:
  
  speed= dx/dt
  
  where dx means the change in position and dt means the change in time (d is an abbreviation for difference). 
  
  
•  The two HUGE understandings in these experiments are:
  

1. I know that motion is the result of an unequal application of forces.
2. I know that a constant application of force results in increasing speeds (until "terminal velocity" is reached -- Shane pointed that out for us!).  

 Warm regards,

Brian MacNevin

Fwd: cross country

Dear Families,
I hope you are having a wonderful Spring Break! The weather sure has been amazing! Our team's other math/science teacher, Robert Knickrehm, is also our school's cross country coach. He asked me to forward this information to you about cross country starting up this spring. This is only the second year that cross country has been at the middle school and kids last year had a wonderful time!
Warm regards,
Brian MacNevin

Whatcom MS Cross Country

It is with great enthusiasm we launch our second district-wide competitive season of middle school cross country.  Last year we had over 75 runners join the team, and we expect even more runners this season.  Our goal is to support the joy of running.  We support runners of all abilities.  This is a fun, social way to be active and is truly a sport for everyone.  We will practice on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.  There will be three dual meets and one all-city meet.  We are happy to work with runners that have other commitments such as music lessons or other types of practices.

Sign-ups will begin immediately after spring break.  There will be announcements in the daily bulletin.

Please let me know if you have questions, and I hope to see you on the trails.

Robert Knickrehm

Head Coach

robert.knickrehm@bellinghamschools.org

676-6460 ext. 4345

WMS: Math Message: LearnZillion!

Dear Families,

This weekend I assigned some review homework. I rarely assign homework on the weekend, and this time it's because we've had such a long time between learning some skills are the unit test that I felt students needed some refreshing. The homework this weekend is about finding surface area (the area on the outside of a 3D shape) and it is self-correcting (the answers are on the page).

But I wanted to share some information with you in case students need some help ore reminders.

Your child should have 3D models of this in their math notebooks

In class we have built paper-folding 3D models of blocks. They fold out flat into a format we call a "net". Using these nets, students can see that any one surface of a rectangular prism (block) is just a square or a rectangle itself. So to find the total surface area, you simply find those individual surfaces' areas and then add them up. The same is true for triangular prisms and pyramids, and students have models of those in their math notebooks, too.

This website, LearnZillion, is AMAZING!

So, wanting to find something for a family, I looked online and found a website I hadn't looked at in a LONG time. It has matured GREATLY and has some GREAT resources for you!. The site is called LearnZillion [link] and you can find tutorials to all of the common core state standards for 6th grade (and 7th, and 8th). Now, we are in a transition year, so we don't match up totally with this site yet. But we will by next year (for example, we still do circles in 6th grade in WA, but when we have moved over 100% to common core, that will be a 7th grade topic). 

There are interactive models, videos, and text explanations. They have a section specifically for surface area here and here; which is the topic reviewed in this weekend's homework!

I hope these resources are helpful and that you have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Brian MacNevin

WMS: Math/Science Update...

Dear Families,

Short weeks always go by so fast. And today we had a great send-off into a 3-day weekend for our students. The Bellingham High School Show Stoppers were here today as ambassadors of the music programs available in our high schools. They shared their talents of singing and then sent us off with a song/dance medley of swing music tunes. Awesome!

This Week in Math

• We took a quiz that students will have back on Monday for finding the area of circles and for finding the area and perimeter of composite shapes.
• We started examining volume. After initial explorations in drawing 3d representations of shapes, students defined for our class that volume is the number of cubes that something is made of. Specifically, we were using 1-cm cubes, but you can use any number of cubes you like. 
• Then we looked at describing the volume of "box" shapes by looking at just one layer of cubes in the box. Then we only needed to multiply that volume by how many layers there are (the height). We generalized that to partial layers (like 5.5 x 3 x 1) and described our process with the formula:
  V= l x w x h
• We then looked at what we'd have if we cut that "box" shape in-half. Each half would be 1/2 of the total volume, and that's how we find triangular prisms. But this one is still a work in progress! :) Next week we'll review what we learned this week and we'll talk more about those triangular prisms.

This Week in Science

• Students turned in their final drafts of their science expository essay to me on Thursday.
• As we've written these, we've had two learning targets in mind:
• 1: I can support claims with evidence.
• 2: I understand the force of friction.
• It was an adventure for me to ask students to write a 5-paragraph essay in science (mostly they are only asked to write observations and paragraph-long conclusions). But this was a great opportunity to extend their language arts expository writing skills into a different part of their day and I didn't want to pass it up

Looking Ahead

• Math: practicing and strengthening skills for finding the volume of triangular prisms.
• Science: Moving from talking about forces to discussing motion. We will be using force diagrams to help us describe systems of motion... more about that next week.

Thanks for all you do for your children.

Sincerely,

Brian MacNevin

MAth Quiz Monday

Dear Families,

On Friday we had a celebration for our team, so we did not have time to take the quiz. Instead, students had a practice quiz and they got a copy of the answer key to bring home with them. A cop of the practice quiz (with answers) is available here: [link]

I will stick to the general format of the practice quiz, but the questions will be different and the levels of difficulty may be different in different locations. 

Students should have with them these things:

• A pencil
  
• A ruler
• Optional: a calculator to check work
• Optional: a compass (Totally NOT necessary, but some students have them and like using them. Do not feel like you need to run out and get one, students know how to use a ruler to do the same thing.)
  

I hope you have had a great weekend and I look forward to seeing my students tomorrow!

Sincerely,

Brian MacNevin

WMS: Math/Science Udpate

Dear Families,

Well, tomorrow is international Pi day! We'll review a little about pi and maybe do something craftsy with pi. But we'll also have a practice quiz tomorrow because on Friday we're having a quiz!

Friday's Quiz:

The quiz on Friday will cover these learning targets. The links I'm sending you are for the practice problems for kids to work on tonight and tomorrow night. They include answers!

• LT 3: I can find the area of a circle.[link]
  
• LT 4: I can find the area and perimeter of compound shapes that have circular parts in them.[link]
  

Science Essay:

Wow! I have been so impressed. After studying about friction, I asked students to write an expository essay to help them bring all their ideas together about friction. I have never asked students to write such an essay in science before, so I was a little apprehensive about what to expect. But I have been floored with their comfort at writing an essay of this nature. We are still drafting. Tomorrow students will turn in their rough drafts and I'll have a look over. Then they'll have some time to get peer feedback before revising. Our final copies will be turned in next week after I give them some more time to revise.

Warm regards,

Brian MacNevin

Fwd:

Dear Families,

I just wanted to share with you what happens when you take 40 different and uniquely-colored circular quadrants and combine them into one quilt! Only 38 were turned in today (two of them I made to complete the rectangle). I can't wait to see what it looks like when we get all 66 connected! :)

Today we started formalizing our exploration of circular area bits into the familiar formula of A= pi×r×r. We did a little practice with it today in class and next week we will be practicing some more and extending more into shapes composed partly of circular parts.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Brian MacNevin

Talking about the area of a circle...

Dear Families,

Today we started talking about the area of a circle... that's the space that covers a circle. And we started by talking about some vocabulary that we can use to describe the circle's area. Students made a foldable today that in which we defined segments, semicircles, sectors, and quadrants of circles. 

For homework tonight, students are just supposed to share their foldable with you and get your signature on the page. Then they are finishing a small project where they are making the area in a circle's quadrant one color (or pattern) and the area outside the circle's quadrant a different color or area. This is to help us anchor on the idea that we are examining the amount of space between a circle's center and its circumference.

We are examining how many radius-squares (squares that are the same size as a circle's radius) can fit inside a circle. Students have four different colors of radius squares and we are in the middle of cutting them apart to physically fit them into the circle.

Tomorrow we will formalize a model-building project that we started today and will find that we can fit 3 radius squares... and a little more into the circle. That means that we can fit... well... pi radius squares into it! But that is tomorrow. For today we just started seeing that about three of those radius squares can fit into a circle.

Thanks!

Brian MacNevin

Become a "Maker Scout" at DIY.ORG

Dear Families,

I ran across this website and I thought it was too cool not to pass along. My own kids are only 3 and 5, so we're not this far yet, but if your child loves to tinker and make things (ANYthing!) the website http://www.diy.org lets them earn virtual "badges" for learning how to make stuff and learning how to do things!

It's like merit badges for everything under the sun.

Tie dye, typing, hacking, fence building... amazing stuff!

Sign-up requires parent consent, but if your child is curious about all sorts of things, you may want to point him/her in this direction!

Warm regards,

Brian MacNevin

The week ahead includes an author visit on Tuesday

Dear Families,

I hope you had a restful weekend. For the coming week, I wanted to let you know about a few goings-on:

Author Visit on Tuesday

This Tuesday, author Kirby Larson will be visiting our school to speak with students. Village Books will be selling copies of his books here at school. Please find a link to the flyer about purchasing his books here: [link].

Math Quiz on Wednesday: WRITE THOSE FORMULAS OUT!

This week in Math we will have a leveled practice day on Monday, a practice quiz on Tuesday, and a quiz on Wednesday all around calculating the circumference of a circle using diameter or calculating the diameter of a circle using circumference. It will also include finding the length of arcs that are 1/4 or 1/2 of a circle long. I have been very dogmatic that students first write down the formula, then replace the variables with numbers. They should always do this even when doing homework. Our quiz on Wednesday will cover these two learning targets:

• LT 1: I can identify the parts of a circle (vocabulary for circle, radius, diameter, chord, tangent, arc, circumference).
• LT 2: I can find the circumference of a circle or I can use the circumference to find the diameter and radius of a circle.

Science Retake Quiz on Wedneday

For the vocabulary around force and energy, I will offer a retake opportunity in class on Wednesday.

Continuing to Study Friction in Science

In science we are continuing to study friction. I have been very impressed at how many students referred to friction as a force because it seemed to push back against their pushes. That's a good sign, because friction is something we can't really see and is hard to describe unless you are looking at a very exaggerated difference between textured surfaces.

As part of our study into forces, students have been working on these learning targets:

1. I can identify forces as pushes or pulls.
2. I can write a conclusion to a question using evidence. 
3. I can draw a graph.

Thank you for everything you do to help your child.

Sincerely,

Brian MacNevin

WMS: Math update... Pi is in the air! That's 3.14159 Pi, not Apple Pie. :)

Dear Families,

We have packed a lot of exploration into a few days and I think it was important work for students to conceptually understand how circles and diameters and circumferences work. Here is the progression we've been through:

Tuesday

We learned about more parts of circles and practiced using that vocabulary in a homework assignment.

Wednesday

We investigated circumference and diameter and we found that circumference is *about* 3 times the diameter. So as a REALLY rough estimate, we decided we'd just use 3 for Wednesday. For homework, students had two word problems to solve using that approximation of 3.

Thursday

Today we did a more detailed analysis of circumference and diameter by building a foldable. Students recognized that the diameter was actually a *little* but more than 3 diameters... so we talked about the idea of pi. Pi is the idea of how many diameters there are in the circumference of a circle, so we represent it as C/d (circumference divided by diameter). But mathematicians throughout much of human history have struggled with describing exactly how many diameters can fit around the circumference of a circle... and the best estimates from a computer go on with an endless (infinite) non-repeating decimal (3.14159...). Today I introduced the idea that we can use an approximation of 3.14 or 22/7 for pi. But I stressed with them that 3.14 is not pi: it is just a approximation of how many diameters can fit on a circle. 3 is just a less precise estimate and other estimates can be more precise. 

Tonight's homework asks the students to compare their answers from last night's story problems to the answers they get when they replace our old estimate of 3 with a more precise one of 3.14.

Confusions for 6th Graders

For some reason, if we leave the estimate of pi at 3, kids have absolutely few problems conceptually answering these questions. But once we throw the decimal in there, students get confused about "should I multiply or divide?" If your child is confused in this circle work, have them go back to using 3 as their approximate number of diameters on circle. Once they know what to do, then they can try it again, replacing 3 with 3.14.

Formulas for Tomorrow

Do not worry if your child is not using the formula for circumference yet. We will formalize our understandings into a formula tomorrow. We started that work today with a foldable and we'll continue tomorrow with some calculation practice. 

Thank you for all the support you provide your child.

Sincerely,

Brian MacNevin

Tonight's Math Homework Resources

Dear Families,

I'm sorry to send two messages in a day. I promise I'm not trying to spam you. But I promised my students I would send along this stuff for tonight's math homework.

The red group still had a little bit to finish on their foldable before doing the assignment. I have included images of what belongs in their foldable. Please excuse some upside-down images. 

The information can be found here:
[link]

Thanks so much!

Brian MacNevin

WMS: Math and Science this week!

Dear Families,

Just a beginning of the week email to let you know what we're working on this week!

Math - NO CALCULATIONS YET, PLEASE! :) 

• TUESDAY: Okay, so we're doing circles. We have defined circles as the collection of points all equidistant from a center point. We have described and defined the radius and diameter of a circle and found a relationship between them. Today we added some vocabulary about arcs, chords, and tangents of circles. And tonight's homework asks students to do kind of a piece of artwork with a circle and its parts, then to try to find a way to measure the circumference. I asked students not to calculate the circumference (so no pi, no 3.14156, no 22/7... YET!). 
  
• WEDNESDAY: Tomorrow we will investigate how many diameters of a circle can fit around its circumference and we will have a rough estimate (about 3). Their homework will have them use that rough estimate.
• THURSDAY: On Thursday we will formalize pi as the ratio of circumference to diameter and we will begin using 3.14 and 22/7 as estimates of pi (just more accurate ones than the value of 3 we will use tomorrow) for calculating circumference... or for finding the diameter from the circumference... or for then finding the radius from the circumference.
• FRIDAY: We should be using circumference to find the perimeter of semi-circles and shapes that have semicircular (and quarter-circular) parts.

Science - FRICTION!

• TUESDAY: We introduced the word friction today and students brainstormed what they think it means to surface preconceptions.
• WEDNESDAY: We will investigate friction as it effects the force needed to move a wooden block over different textures (surfaces).
• THURSDAY: We will investigate the effects of load (mass) on friction. 
• FRIDAY: We will investigate the effect of surface area on friction.
• Throughout all of these investigations, students will be keeping careful notes in their science notebooks. There are specific CHECKOUTS throughout the lab where partners bring me over and I check on their progress and their understanding before the can move on. Your child is welcome to bring home his/her science notebook to share with you what we have been working on. 

A long weekend, a short week, and sunshine today! I hope you have a very pleasant Tuesday!

Sincerely,

Brian MacNevin

WMS: Math quiz tomorrow. Tonight's practice.

Dear families,

Tonight students have some homework to get ready for the quiz tomorrow. Tonight's homework asks the students to plot coordinates of shapes on a coordinate grid and then to find the area and perimeter of those shapes.

I asked students tonight to finish the Level 3.5 questions. They can use graph paper in their math notebooks to make a set of axes that go from -10 to +10 on the x and y axes. Students who seek to get a 4 should complete the level 4 questions to prepare.

Tonight's Practice: [link]

Answer Key: [link]

For perimeter estimates, students just use scrap paper to mark off the lengths of the sides, then compare those to the grid the shape is drawn on to estimate side lengths. I used the pythorean theorem to calculate those distances, so student estimates might not match these calculated sizes precisely. If students are 0.5 units under or 0.5 units above my calculated perimeters, their estimate is just fine. If they are farther off than that, they may want to recheck their measurements.

Tomorrow's quiz will NOT require points to be plotted. That is something that belongs to the common core state standards that we are moving toward and I will want to assess that separately. 

Thank you for your time and support of your child,

Brian MacNevin

WMS: Math quiz on Wednesday

Dear families,

We have a quiz coming up on Wednesday for these learning targets:

LT 3: I can find the area and perimeter of any triangle and I can use this to solve problems.

LT 4: I can find the area and perimeter of any parallelogram and I can use this to solve problems.

Today students are bringing home some practice problems and I have scanned in an answer key for them to use at home.

Practice Problems for Triangles: [link]

Practice Problems for Parallelograms: [link]

Answers for both: [link]

Side 1 of each represents a beginning level 3 (still at standard, but lacking any problem solving to it). The back questions represent a more solid 3 to level 4. 

I reminded my students that they don't have to work more than 45 minutes on these tonight. Of course, if they are enjoying the challenge, they are welcome to work longer. But I don't want anyone losing sleep over it. We will have more time to practice tomorrow in class and tomorrow night with homework.

Thanks!

Brian MacNevin

Math Quiz tomorrow on dividing decimals

Dear Families,

Tomorrow we are having a quiz on dividing decimals using long division. We practiced this skill all last week in math review and today students took a practice quiz, then we went over the answers. Between their math reviews last week (in their math notebook) and the practice quiz, they should have lots to review to get ready for tomorrow's quiz. But just in case anyone wants more to practice, here is a link to some extra practice problems and their answers. There is no need to have these checked in with me in the morning.

• Level 2 practice [link]
  
• Level 3 practice: [link]
  
• Level 4 practice: [link]
  

How I've Taught the Skill:

We've looked at this as an extension of long division. Most students had done long division in 5th grade, but for a few their first time learning it was earlier this year in our math reviews. I believe the same process we've practiced in class is demonstrated in these videos:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlEx1TN-dqY
  
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PU5JshO0xA
  

Why does it work?

Well, this algorithm is the same one we all learned in school. And at first it seems like it's just a magic trick. But really, this is based in the equivalent fractions that students learned earlier in the year. I tried to help students understand this reasoning, but really, most of them needed to focus on practicing the steps so I believe only a few cared about 

1. 1/2 and 5/10 are equivalent fractions... to get to 5/10 from 1/2 you just multiply the numerator and the denominator by 5. But they both have a decimal value of 0.5... so they are equivalent. 
2. Let's say I want to divide 4.5 by 0.9. I can write that division in fraction format as 4.5/0.9. If I multiply the top and the bottom by 10, it becomes 45/9. The decimal seems to have moved one spot to the right for each one. 
3. That's the same thing that we are doing in decimal division. By moving the divisor's decimal one place to the right, we are multiplying it by 10. If we have to move it two spaces to the right, we are multiplying it by 100. We do the same thing to the divisor so that it is equivalent to the original math problem and it will have the same answer.

This Quiz Counts for Spring Semester

I will record this math quiz in the Spring semester so that students can have the opportunity to revise their work and improve.

Thank you,

Brian MacNevin

WMS: Math Update

Dear Families,

Just an update about what's going on in math and science: surface area and energy! Cool!

Math

• Several students had the Winter MAP test this morning just as a mid-year checkup.
• In class and we explored more about the surface area of pyramids. Last week we learned about square and triangular pyramids, but today we are looking at triangular pyramids with lateral sides that are different from the triangular base. In 6th grade we are focusing on the surface areas of rectangular prisms (blocks) and pyramids.
• Here is a website that describes the pyramidal surface area well! http://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/pyramids.html
• Students received back their decimal multiplication quiz today. Tomorrow I will be having students record in their planners the retake opportunities available to them. They will need to bring revised quizzes with them as a ticket to retake the quiz.

Science

• In science we are finishing up batteries as a model of energy storage and during this week we will be looking at energy being stored in mechanical (elastic) interactions and in gravity interactions. 
  

Sincerely,

Brian MacNevin

WMS: Math Update and Influenza PSA

Dear Families,

Math

I just wanted to remind you that students have some opportunities to retake their percents quiz this week. They need to revise what they did before on their original quiz, and bring that to one of the retake sessions. A complete revision of their work is the ticket to retake the quiz. Here's a mini calendar for the rest of this week. There is a more comprehensive class calendar at my website (http://www.mrmacnevin.com). 

• Thursday:
  Percent Quiz Retake @ Lunch Time
• Friday:
  Multiplying Decimals Quiz in class
  Percent Quiz Retake @ Lunch Time

Influenza

I've heard a lot on the news over the last week about the flu hitting our area. News clips are always very scary and often offer little information besides telling us to wash our hands and to be vaccinated. The Khan Academy has posted a series of video mini-lectures that explain more about the flu. Those videos are available here: [link]. I am going to see if there are parts of it that my students might benefit from in class. But I figure more information is always better than less about it.

I hope you have a great Wednesday afternoon and evening!

Sincerely,

Brian MacNevin

WMS: Math/Science Update

Dear Families,

Hi again! I just wanted to let you know where we are at in math and science right now! 

Math

1. Last week we took the percents quiz on Thursday. Today my students in my blue group got their quiz back to bring home. My red group students will get theirs first thing tomorrow morning (nothing is wrong, I just forgot to hand it out before they transitioned to Language Arts/SS).
2. Tomorrow night students will write a reflective letter on the quiz.
3. I was REALLY impressed with how well students knew their strategies! Unfortunately, I was a little surprised at how many calculation errors there were. In other words: almost everyone knew what the needed to do, they just couldn't do the calculations reliably. I couldn't give someone a 3 (meeting grade level) based on the concept if they couldn't carry out the calculation.
4. Students with less than a 3 are to revise their work and come to extended learning for support this week.
5. NEW TOPIC: Last week we reviewed the area of rectangles and triangles and we also looked at the area of composite (complex) shapes. Right now we are extending those skills into 3D! Today we talked about surface area and we used grid-paper constructs called nets to help us imagine and calculate the surface area of some small shapes built of three 1-cm cubes. We will focus on the surface area of rectangular prisms and pyramids with some composite 3D shapes as well! It's a fun thing to study!

Science

1. Last week we looked at rechargeable batteries and this we are going to keep doing that. We are trying to build an operational definition what a battery is.

Thanks so much for all of your support of Whatcom Middle School!

Sincerely,

Brian MacNevin

WMS: Math/Science Update

Dear Families,

Welcome to our first full week after break! I hope you all had wonderful pause from the regular school schedule and had some time to reconnect. I just want to update you about what we're working on right now in math and science.

Math

1. Wrapping up percentages: We have completed the investigations into percentages and I think we've gotten as much out of it as we're going to for right now. Between the break and wanting the kids to have some geometric sense built before going on with it, we are going spend math reviews of this week practicing percent calculations and applications Monday- Wednesday.
2. On Wednesday night students will bring home a practice quiz.
3. On Thursday we will have a quiz on percentages. 
4. The rest of the time we are moving into geometry and measurement. This week we will review area and perimeter of rectangles and triangles, we will add analysis of composite shapes, and we will start talking about application (like finding square footage of carpet, associated costs, etc). 

Science

1. We have finished our unit on ecology and are starting on our unit on physics. This unit will be structured very differently from the last one, so stay tuned for information about students sharing their work with you.
2. In general, each of the lessons is arranged in three segments:
1. Getting Started (preconceptions)
2. Evidence (experiments and observation)
3. Reflections (conclusions and thinking questions)
3. Right before break we built some batteries from Copper, Zinc, Copper Sulfate Solution, and some blotter paper. This week we are examining rechargeable batteries to discover some about their properties.

Again, welcome back and have a wonderful evening!

Sincerely,

Brian MacNevin